Njeri Rugene And Peter Leftie
6 July 2009
Nairobi — Embattled Cabinet minister Hellen Sambili came out fighting on Monday even as she was sucked into the ODM supremacy battle between Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Agriculture Minister William Ruto.
Responding to calls for her sacking, Prof Sambili asserted that she was in full control of her ministry and those eyeing her job were "daydreaming".
Dismissing her two deputies, Kabando wa Kabando and Wavinya Ndeti as "disrespectful and jealous", she said the two were being used by her political rivals to undermine her.
She singled out ODM Nominated MP Musa Sirma.
Prof Sambili spoke as Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny, an ally of Mr Ruto, alleged Mr Odinga was plotting to replace her with Mr Sirma.
Mr Kutuny accused the Prime Minister of "using PNU legislators to castigate Sambili in order to sack her and appoint Sirma instead."
On Monday night, Mr Odinga's spokesman Dennis Onyango said the claims were cheap and ridiculous.
"The PM appointed Prof Sambili to the Cabinet. If he is unhappy with her, he surely has the power to sack her. He does not need to use proxies. All Kenyans know that Mr Odinga states his feelings and sentiments openly and is not shy of doing so," he said.
Prof Sambili accused Mr Sirma, who represented Eldama Ravine in the last parliament, of plotting to get her job.
"I am telling him to stop dreaming and interfering with my work and constituency," said Prof Sambili.
High-handedness
The Sports minister has on three occasions come under fire from her assistant ministers who accuse her of high-handedness and tribalism. They have publicly claimed that she does not consult or delegate responsibilities to them.
They have cited the appointment of former Permanent Secretary Benjamin Sogomo to head the Sports Stadia Management Board and the saga surrounding the renaming of the Nyayo National Stadium and subsequent cancellation of a multi-million shilling contract with Coca Cola as some of the decisions Prof Sambili took alone.
They also cited the appointment of a senior deputy secretary, a Mr Soi to stand in for PS Kinuthia Murugu who is recovering at the Nairobi Hospital.
On Sunday, Mr Kabando called for her sacking, saying she was "erratic, unprofessional, ethnic and paranoid."
But on Monday, Prof Sambili hit back.
"Those allegations are ridiculous and unfortunate and are part of a wider scheme by some people to portray me in bad light," she said.
She said Mr Sogomo's appointment had been sanctioned by "relevant authorities" while that of Mr Soi was procedural.
Prof Sambili also trashed allegations that she was a tribalist, saying they are "most misplaced and unfortunate."
She said she was a hard working ministers and it was "unfair' for anybody to claim she was unfit to hold office.
Expressing shock at the attack by the assistant ministers, Prof Sambili said they were disrespectful and rude to her and sometimes refused to take her orders.
"I am shocked at their behaviour, coming shortly after we had a long meeting with the PS to iron out our differences. This proves they have an agenda."
She dismissed as untrue claims that she did not delegate duties, saying they had travelled to China, Poland, Namibia and Nigeria on business.
On his part, Mr Sirma called for the minister's sacking, saying her appointment was "a big mistake."
"The problem with her is that she does not know politics, she should know that she is not an ODM MP," he said.
Additional reporting by Paul Juma
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